


Sixteen going on seventeen

by charmandu



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Halloween, M/M, awkward boys, dumb boys, i miss them being awkward beside each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-16 21:00:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21277655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charmandu/pseuds/charmandu
Summary: Jaehwan wanted to watch the latest Chuckie movie with his friends. They cancel on him the last minute so he's stuck in the cinema alone.





	Sixteen going on seventeen

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the Sound of Music.
> 
> also: I don't really know the plot of Chuckie and I just made everything up.  
another also: i love thinking about high school minhwan huhu

Jaehwan is sixteen and that means he’s a dumb boy. And by dumb, it means he honestly believed that when two of his friends invited him to watch a horror movie as “a test of courage”, he believed it. 

With a bucket of popcorn, a bag of Skittles, and a large-sized Coke in his hands, he’s now standing alone in front of Cinema 3, where Chuckie is playing. Don’t get him wrong. Being sixteen also meant being brave and being confident. But it also meant being reckless and maybe being a little too proud of himself. 

And so, he enters its doors. The trailers were already playing and there is literally no single soul sitting in any of its seats. Or maybe there is, he just doesn’t really see them--not that he believes in ghosts or spirits (that may or may not take control of a doll’s body). No. He doesn’t. Sure. And that’s why he could survive the show and  go home just before midnight. Maybe.

He sits on the chair indicated on the ticket, it’s in the center, three rows before the last line. He eats his popcorn loudly, there’s no one to hear him anyway. The lights dim after Frozen 2’s trailer and he automatically looked around him if anyone dared to watch the same movie, to commend him or her later. Of course. Not to calm his beating heart with the knowledge of company when the movie’s just about to start. 

That’s when he sees him: donned with a baseball cap black as his hair, with a capital Y embroidered on its front, both eyes sparkling the magic of the intro of the movie unfolded with quiet musical notes, nose tall, and flawless, and jaws relaxed. 

_ Why is his senior, Minhyun-hyung watching this movie alone?  _ Jaehwan returns his attention to the show in front of him and munches his popcorn, denying that his mouth started to dry and his hands start to sweat when the new situation sinks in. 

* * *

The first death in the movie happened when he was trying to open his Skittles. He was so shocked that he opened the candy pouch larger than he intended to, prompting the bead-like sours to drop and roll on the floor. His mouth gapes--first, due to the waste of good candy and second, his  _ seonbaenim  _ might have heard it (both the Skittles falling and the tiny scream he let out.)

As soon as the screen showed a much calmer part of the movie, meaning it was daytime and no possible killings could have taken place (he was wrong, of course), he decided to gather his things, stand up, and move to the seat beside Minhyun. 

The thing is, they’re not close. They’re not even acquainted. No, erase that. Jaehwan believes they talked once or twice, when the school paper took photos of all the school organization’s presidents and team captains. That’s about it. From then on, he could just look from afar: in hallways, in the monthly townhalls, and most often in the library. He could only sneak in glances and steal one or two seconds of looking at his… beautiful existence. 

He was already walking on the row where Minhyun was sitting when he realized that he’s actually doing what he thinks he’s doing--he’s going to sit beside Hwang Minhyun, student council president, straight A’s student, candidate for homecoming king, and part-time model, just because he is stupid enough to think he has the courage to watch a horror movie alone. If his friends were here, he’d probably be called out already as he fails the “test of courage”.

He almost deflates at the thought but then again, his confidence takes over once more because hey, he’s not that bad--he’s the team captain of their high school’s soccer team, his grades are mostly A’s too (if it weren’t for World History), he’s the designated homecoming band vocalist for two years in a row, and he’s the school’s resident goody two shoes, serving both as an altar boy and choir lead (alternately) in the mass every Sunday in the community church. 

He doesn’t speak when he settles down at the chair beside Minhyun, putting his drink on the cup holder and the popcorn back on his lap. He offers Minhyun some, to which the other reply “No, thanks.”

Jaehwan almost cringes at how awkward the situation is but he has more things to worry about like how the new owner of Chuckie almost discovers the truth about it (and the plan it was planning) but plot conveniences pushes the narrative in another direction. 

The scene was dark again--nighttime--when Jaehwan almost flips the bucket of popcorn upside down in shock. He grabs his seatmate’s arm in an attempt to cover himself, allowing him to notice how soft the cotton of his sweater is against his hands and how hard and toned Minhyun’s arms were. How his heart almost stopped at the sight of Minhyun looking back at him with confusion pasted on his face. And oh, how he’s not supposed to grab him like this, like he’s on some cheesy first date. As sudden as he went to him for shielding himself against the scary movie, he removes his grip from Minhyun. He straightens up to lessen the tension and gain back his so called morale. A small “sorry” comes out of Jaehwan’s mouth. 

The movie progresses fast, as fast as Jaehwan’s nibbling of the popcorn he was supposed to share with his two friends. He takes his soda from the holder and drinks up, and rests his elbow on the armrest after putting it back down. Not long after, just when Chuckie disappeared and reappeared under the main character’s bed holding a knife, Jaehwan feels two hands grasp his own. 

His head snaps to his right and sees Minhyun’s eyes still glued to the screen, brows sometimes knotting, not realizing that they’re holding hands already. Jaehwan also sees his cheeks, it’s almost pink, even with the altered light emitted by the movie. He dismisses the idea that it is a blush, a blush that would have been probably caused by their current position right now. No, it’s nothing like that.  _ Sure.  _

Minhyun’s grip tightens and Jaehwan could only assume that it was because something morbid is currently happening in the movie. He won’t know because he just can’t take his eyes off of him. 

The slow tense music of the movie gives him space to think: what would it be like to look at those shining eyes constantly, will he see the future or will he see something more? What would it feel like to be  _ allowed  _ to caress his cheeks, to trace the bridge of his nose, or to cup his jaw? Would it execute him from too much electricity? Would it make him shiver pushing him to pull his hand back? 

He then wonders if there would be a prison to take him for having these embarrassing thoughts. 

The sudden daylight from the movie makes Minhyun look at him for a flat two seconds, and then to their hands, another flat two seconds. The color of Minhyun’s cheeks become a more apparent shade of pink and he pulls off both of his hands from Jaehwan’s. It was a short-lived bliss yet Jaehwan is already treasuring it somewhere both in his mind and his heart.

“Sorry,” Minhyun resigns. 

Jaehwan feels a blush creep up his cheeks, “Oh, it’s okay. Uh, it’s fine. If it makes you feel better.”

This earned a stare from Minhyun, either from disbelief or misunderstanding. Jaehwan remedies it, “It’s alright. Uhh, it calms me too.”

Minhyun moved his hands back where it was and they held hands for the whole duration of the movie. 

* * *

The moment they got out of the cinema, it was already ten minutes after 11:00 PM. The mall is already closed and designated areas for exit were the only ones with lights. 

Jaehwan giggles at something. “Do you think we’ll survive if suddenly, the mannequins become alive and goes after us?” He doesn’t know where this is coming from and he almost punches his own self for being too embarrassing and weird.  _ Why did he have to be weird in front of his crush?  _

Minhyun looks at him, a little bewildered but he gives an answer anyway. “My car is downstairs, I’ll just drive away from them.” His voice is serious, like he’s actually considering that the mannequins will breathe at one point in the night. 

Jaehwan’s mouth hangs open, a sudden realization hitting him.

Minhyun wonders if he said something wrong. “I’ll--I can drive away with you?” He offers, still thinking about the mannequins.

“Oh, uh.” Jaehwan laughs nervously. “I wasn’t actually thinking about the mannequins anymore. It’s just that, I realized that I don’t have a way to go home because I was supposed to ride with my friends who promised to watch the movie with me.” He scratches his head out of uncomfortableness. 

Minhyun smiles at him and Jaehwan swears he’s almost lost his eyesight at how bright it was. “My offer stands.” 

* * *

Minhyun pulls off in front of Jaehwan’s house. Both of them got off and Jaehwan turns to Minhyun to thank him. He messes his hair a bit to appear natural. 

Minhyun leans on his car and Jaehwan thinks how it was a calculated rom-com move. So he breaks the silence. “Would…”

“What?” Minhyun returns, impatient.

Jaehwan looks down on his sneakers, tattered as they are, they still look good on him. “I wanted to ask if… If you’d consider this as a date.” He feels like it didn’t really start well but the fact that they sat beside each other and they held hands for a while could actually qualify it to be one.

Minhyun almost chokes at the question, then stares at the other. “You’re Kim Jaehwan, you don’t do dates.”

“Oh, you actually know my name?” Jaehwan muses. 

Minhyun bites his lips while denying to himself that he  _ just  _ wasn’t caught about his crush. He looks at him again, arms folding in front of him. “Jersey number 32.”

“Wow, you actually know my name and my jersey number.” Jaehwan smiles, shyly. “You can’t throw that argument on me. As far as I know, you don’t do romance too, Mr. President slash homecoming king slash part time model.” He teases. 

“Oh.” Minhyun looks up to the sky and gives a hearty laugh. “I definitely-definitely won’t do romance to others. I’ve only been interested in one and I’d totally do you.”

“You’ve thought about doing me?” Jaehwan’s eyebrow raises. 

“I mean, uh, romance you. No.” Minhyun inhales. “Not romance you. Well, maybe some. Uhh! Dates! Do dates with you. If… if that’s okay?” Minhyun saves. 

Jaehwan is sixteen and that means he’s a dumb boy. And that’s okay because at sixteen, you’re supposed to do dumb things. It’s just better when you have someone you like and he’s seventeen and he’s a dumb boy too. So with every ounce of courage he still has with him even after watching that horror film, he answers, “That’s okay. I’d like to do you too. I mean, date you. I’d like to date you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please show me some love via the comments hehe I know it's vain but it'd be great to know your thoughts as it pushes me to write, even for our sinking ship. 
> 
> im still on stan twt and curiouscat, let me know if you have any requests. :)


End file.
